What we’re about
In 2025, the History of Philosophy Book Club will continue to study both canonical Western texts as well as philosophy from other cultures. Since 2022 we have explored Hindu, Buddhist, Daoist, Arabic, and classical Chinese philosophy alongside the traditional Western canon. This is an opportunity for those who have read mostly within the Western tradition to learn and assess new and different ideas, and to see how they have influenced varied philosophical schools. The 2025 schedule can be found here.
NOTICE: If you would like to join the History of Philosophy Book Club, we're happy to have you! Please do take a few moments to give thoughtful answers to our registration questions -- expertise in philosophy is not required, but we'd sincerely like to know about you and your interests in philosophy! As our registration form notes, one-word or excessively brief answers to the questions, as well as snarky or scornful replies, will result in an automatic rejection. Additionally, because the group meets in person, membership is currently limited to the Washington, DC metro area. Thank you for your interest and consideration.
WHO WE ARE
Did you take a philosophy class in high school or college and wish you had taken more? Do you read philosophy texts independently but have no one to discuss them with? Then this group is for you.
Somewhat of a hybrid, it is a combination study group and book club. The backgrounds of our members vary: some have never taken a philosophy course and are essentially self-taught; others have doctorates in the field. Although the majority of writers have been European and American, we have read and are open to texts from other cultures, and starting in 2022 will be making an extra effort to study them. Representative philosophers have included Plato, Averroes, Confucius, Descartes, Spinoza, Kant, Sartre, Arendt, Rawls, Foucault, and Butler. We often read a single book by a single author, but if their output has been substantial we will consider an anthology or collection of shorter texts. At times we engage with debates between prominent philosophers, such as the Searle-Derrida debate about meaning and interpretation. We also sometimes discuss topics such as theories of metaphor or the philosophy of mathematics, or schools of philosophy such as pragmatism.
We started the group in 2010 with the classical period and finished in 2013 with twentieth century writers, then began the cycle in more depth in 2014 and wrapped up in December 2021, beginning the historical cycle again in January 2022.
Meetings are currently held at the West End Library in DC, located 2301 L St NW, Washington, DC 20037, near the Foggy Bottom-GWU metro station.
Tips in Preparing for Meetings
After you have finished the reading, ask yourself: (1) What are the philosopher’s principal ideas? (2) What arguments are used to support them, and are they strong or weak? (3) Who were the author’s major influences, and whom in turn did he/she influence? (4) What was the historical context in which the author wrote, and did this affect what was said? (5) Are the author’s works still relevant today and, if so, how?
To help in answering these questions, attendees are encouraged to consult the secondary resources posted in each announcement. Wikipedia, the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, and the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy are especially useful.
Rules of Conduct at Meetings
Avoid monopolizing the conversation. If you've been speaking for several minutes, and sense others want to get in, relinquish the floor.
Stay on topic, and keep your remarks concise and to the point.
Challenging arguments and disputing facts are fine; personal attacks are not. Derogatory, prejudiced, or discriminatory remarks of any kind are grounds for ejection from the session and termination of membership.
If you have not read at least 50% of the recommended selections, consider skipping the meeting to allow other interested people to attend.
Those who violate the rules of conduct repeatedly will be dropped from the group at the discretion of the organizers.
Note:
To remain viable, groups depend on regular attendance. Toward this end, we ask that you only RSVP "Yes" if you know that you are likely to attend. If it turns out that you cannot make it to the meeting, we ask that you cancel your RSVP as soon as possible to make room for others.
Although everyone is welcome to use our resources, our targeted audience consists of people who live in the Maryland, DC, and Virginia area.
Upcoming events (1)
See all- Samuel von Pufendorf's "On the Duty of Man and Citizen According to Natural Law"West End Neighborhood Library, Washington, DC
Life
Samuel von Pufendorf was a court historian and professor of law born in Saxony in 1632, the same year as Baruch Spinoza. He studied at universities in Leipzig and Jena, and met Galileo, Grotius, Descartes, and Hobbes. He was a tutor to the family of a Swedish envoy to Denmark, which resulted in his spending eight months in prison in Denmark when Sweden began a war against Denmark. But he used the time well by writing his first book, Elements of Universal Jurisprudence (1660), which borrowed ideas from Grotius and Hobbes and is seen as a foundational text in modern theories of natural law. He left Denmark, survived a shipwreck, and, in 1661, took a position at the University of Heidelberg. He later taught at the University of Lund at the invitation of the King of Sweden. His major work, On the Law of Nature and of Nations was published in 1672, and the more popular compendium to this work, On the Duty of Man and Citizen according to Natural Law, in 1673. The latter work served as a university textbook for over a hundred years. His An Introduction to the History of the Principal Kingdoms and States of Europe (1682) stayed in print for several decades. He wrote several other works of history and replies to critics, and, under a pseudonym, a book critical of the Catholic Church. He died in 1694.Context and Themes
The 200 years prior to Pufendorf's birth (1632) had seen the invention of the printing press, the Inquisition, discovery of the Americas, the Protestant Reformation, the Counter-Reformation and Council of Trent, Wars of Religion in France, and the Thiry Years’ War and Eighty Years’ War ending in the Treaty of Westphalia. Pufendorf was certainly aware of this tumult and of the intellectual discoveries and controversies in the Europe of his day. His work on natural law can be seen as an attempt to solve a very pressing problem: Could rights, responsibilities, and powers of citizens and states be described and agreed upon so as to limit destructive civil wars, wars of religion, and wars of conquest? Advances in science and mathematics, and the continuing assault on Aristotelian metaphysics and Scholasticism, seemed to show the way. Pufendorf starts with a few premises about humanity’s sociability, ability to reason, need for others, and desires. From these, he derives duties to God, self, and others and goes on to discussions of a duty not to harm others, agreements, language, family life, government, and several other topics. His approach suggests several questions. Does natural law require God as an enforcer? Could natural law work outside Europe and across radically different cultures? Do evolving ethical views even within the same European civilization undermine his theory?Readings
The readings this month are:- An excerpt from “Prolegomena” or “Preliminary Discourse Concerning the Certainty of Right” to The Rights of War and Peace, Hugo Grotius. This short, 8-page excerpt from the Online Library of Liberty provides additional context for Pufendorf’s arguments about natural law.
- On the Duty of Man and Citizen according to Natural Law, Samuel von Pufendorf. We’ll read the entire work (177 pages in the Cambridge edition available from Amazon and elsewhere). Among the free options is one from the Online Library of Liberty (1735 trans.).
Secondary Readings
- The entries on The Natural Law Tradition in Ethics, Hugo Grotius, and Samuel Pufendorf at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy may be helpful.
